The alternative reality
by Mr.Oakzzz
Summary: After learning of his brothers true motives, Sasuke heads back to Konoha to find answears. Did Tobi tell him the truth? Did Konoha really order Itachi to annihilate his own clan? And why was he alone spared during the massacre?
1. The Truth of the Uchiha

**Alright, guess it's time to get underway with this. For some reason I began to wonder what would have happened if Sasuke decided to turn down Tobi when he got knowledge of Itachi's true motives and instead decided to honor his sacrifice and return to the Hidden leaf village. This is my first fanfiction, so i would appreciate any possible tips you may have for me. Plz R&R!  
**

**Oh, and let's not forget, I do not own any stuff connected to the original Naruto series, all that stuff belongs to Mr Masashi Kishimoto.**

_Chapter one: The end of torment_

"What did you just say?"

Sasuke shook his head. It couldn't be. It just didn't make any sense.

"You heard me right. Itachi wanted to protect you. He wanted you to hate him so that you would have a reason for becoming strong. He wanted to die by your hands, so that when the time came, he could give you a new power…"

"Stop it! It's a lie! It has to be a lie… He's… Itachi's evil! He tried to kill me using his Mangekyo Sharingan! He killed our parents and joined the Akatsuki!"

Sasuke's panting could be heard throughout the entire cave now. He bit his lip in a weak attempt to hide his own uncertainty. This couldn't be the truth… but yet… some of the pieces began to fall into place…

"That too, was his mission. A mission given to him by the hidden leaf. He was to annihilate his own clan and join the Akatsuki as a spy."

"Shut up! They're all just lies! Do you know how many times he tried to kill me?"

"Then tell me this, why are you still alive?"

Tobi's words hit Sasuke in the face. That's right, Itachi had the chance of killing him several times, but never went through with it. What was it that had kept him?

"That's right, Itachi never wanted to kill you." As he started talking again, Tobi left his corner of the room and began walking towards Sasuke. "The man that shedded tears of blood and killed everything he held dear, just couldn't bring himself the kill you. He killed his parents, his friends, his lover and his entire clan, but he just couldn't bring himself to kill his little brother."

As he sat down in front of Sasuke, Tobi picked up a kunai knife and cut the ropes holding Sasuke.

"To him, your life was more precious than the entire village he had sacrificed everything to protect."

Tobi's final words dropped the curtain over of the story. Sasuke leaned backwards against the wall, his breath finally beginning to return to normal. His eyes were half closed as he reflected over what he had just heard. Without even knowing it, he sat up as he suddenly remembered the black flames that had bursted out of his left eye when Tobi tried to show his own sharingan. He covered his eye with his left hand while thinking over the scenario.

"But if you was Itachi's mentor, then why did he implant the Amaterasu in my eye to react to your sharingan?"

"That was just in case I knew about the truth. I guess Itachi just didn't trust me."

Sasuke closed his eyes and removed the left hand from his face. In a split second, he had decided his next action.

"But if that's true as well…" he began.

Tobi's eye (the one that could be seen through the mask) widened as he stood up and took a step backwards.

"…then why should I trust you now?" Sasuke's eyes flew open, his own sharingan activated. In a split second, he stood up and charged at Tobi at full speed. He knew the hand signs like his own pocket: Ox – Rabbit – Monkey.

"**Chidori!**"

Sasuke fist was quickly covered up by a burst of lightning as he punched it at the masked man. Tobi took one more step backwards before being hit by it. But as it reached its target, Sasuke didn't feel any contact between his fist and the intended victim. His eyes widened when he saw his arm go straight through his opponent. He lost balance and fell through Tobi before hitting the ground. As he hit the ground, he felt the exhaustion from his battle with Itachi return. Behind him, Tobi turned to look down at the sorry state he was in.

"You fool! Are you going to dishonor your brothers sacrifice?"

At the mention of his brother, Sasuke felt the rage flow in his body. He stood up again and charged at Tobi once more.

"Shut up! Don't take Itachi's name into your filthy mouth!"

He performed the same hand seals and pulled all chakra he had into his left hand. But nothing happened. He didn't have enough chakra left. The attempt to force out chakra he didn't have also took its toll as Sasuke saw how his vision started to blur. He felt dizzy and began falling to the ground, but before he hit the ground, he felt a punch hit him in belly. He lost his breath was thrown backwards against the wall. He tried to lift his head to gaze at Tobi, who was making his way towards him from the opposite side of the room, but even that little effort was too much for him. As his head hit the ground again, he could feel the blood from one of his wounds soak into the bandages that covered his right shoulder.

"So you have decided to oppose me because your brother didn't trust me? That's just foolish. Itachi didn't trust anyone!"

As Tobi reached Sasuke, he glanced on the reopened wound on his shoulder.

"That looks painful. You should learn not to go up against people you can't possibly beat."

He lifted his right leg and then stomped at Sasuke's right shoulder. The painful scream Sasuke let out echoed through the entire cave, as if there were at least ten Sasukes screaming out of pain.

"You two were brothers, yet what you think and see are so different." He put his weight on his right leg and allowed it to put pressure on Sasukes shoulder. Sasuke bit his jaws hard together to prevent more screaming, but they were eventually forced open as he coughed up a small amount of blood.

"To think that you would be able to surpass Itachi was foolish. You'll never be like him. With your weak resolve, you won't even reach half of his strength."

"Shut up…"

Tobi made a pause.

"What was that?"

Sasuke forced his last power to look up at the Akatsuki member.

"You have no right to talk about Itachi like that. So just shut up…" But Sasukes voice had lost its power. It trembled from the strain of holding his head straight up.

"How pitiful. To think this is the end of the great Uchiha clan."

Tobi lifted his leg again to stomp once more, but just as he was about to let it fall, a roar could be heard throughout the cave.

"Saassuukeee!"

As Sasuke began to lose consciousness, he saw three people, one of which carried a massive blade, rushing towards him. His blurry vision didn't allow him to see details, but as the one with the blade and another one of them charged at Tobi, the last of them, a red haired girl, rushed to Sasuke's side. The last thing Sasuke could remember was a soft hand grabbing his shoulders and rolling him over. Then, he completely lost consciousness.

**Well, that's it for the first chapter. I know it may be a little short, but I'm still getting used to the equipment, so I didn't want to take any chances. If I get positive response, next chapter will be longer.**


	2. Insecurity

**Sasuke Uchiha: TIR**

_Chapter two_

"Rasengan!"

Naruto was furious. As soon as he could see the sphere form in his hand, he slammed it into a nearby tree, causing it to fall.

"Naruto, calm down!" Kakashi's voice sounded like it came from million and more millions of miles away. The pain in his chest made it feel like everything was falling apart. Once again, he had failed to reach Sasuke. Once again, he had failed to save his best friend.

"How am I supposed to stay calm?! I failed again, didn't I? Sasuke was within our grasp, yet he slipped away again!"

"Shut up Naruto!, You're not the only one who's disappointed!"

As Sakura's voice reached Naruto, the blonde boy stopped to breathe and took around himself. She was right, everyone seemed disappointed. Kiba and Akamaru had their heads hanging down, Sakura herself seemed more angry than sad but still disappointed, Hinata was watching him with concern and even Shino seemed to hang down his head more than usual. Still, they couldn't understand. The bond between Sasuke and Naruto was special. They were like brothers. At least they used to be. Naruto didn't know anymore. He turned around and kicked a tree in frustration.  
While Naruto had his back turned, a big snail fell from the sky and landed in front of the Sasuke Retrieval Team. Kakashi raised his head.

"Katsuyo? What are you doing here?"

The snail took a deep breath and then spoke very quick.

"I got urgent orders from Lady Tsunade. She's assigning Team Kakashi to a new mission immediately."

Kakashi sighed. He had a bad feeling about sending Naruto on a mission in his current condition. Turning to Sakura, he told her:

"Keep an eye on Naruto, I don't think he will listen right now so you better make sure he doesn't do something stupid."

"Why do I have to babysit him?" the pink haired girl asked.

"Because I don't think Sai is up to it just yet."

Turning around, Sakura spotted the black haired boy reading a book and mumbling for himself "what to do when your friend is in a bad mood…"

"Ok, I get it." She said, though she didn't like it.

"Good, now let's hear what you have to say Katsuyo."

Sasuke felt like his head had gotten about four times bigger than usual. He could hear someone moving close to him. He was tempted to open his eyes to see who it was, but he had so many questions flying around in his head. He couldn't wake up yet. Even if he woke up, what was he going to do? He had defeated Itachi, he had achived his goal. So why did he feel so unsatisfied?  
Sasuke felt the time run away. Minutes, hours and maybe even days passed by, but he just couldn't let go of what Tobi had told him. Could it really be that Itachi had been trying to protect him? No way, Tobi was a member of the Akatsuki, he could not be trusted! But then again, what he had said had sort of fit into the story and explained some of Itachi's actions.

"Sasuke?" a voice could be heard from beside him. It was a woman's voice.

Sasuke took a deep breath and opened his eyes. He had spent so much time to think of his next action, yet had come up with nothing. He was met by the concerned face of Karin, the medic and sensory type of his team Hebi.

"Sasuke, are you ok?"

Sasuke sat up and put his head in his hands. It felt so heavy, he could swear even his own sword was lighter.

"Karin, what happened?"

Sighing with relief after hearing his voice, Karin leaned back and took a deep breath.

"We had been told by that weird plant guy that you had emerged victorious from your battle with Itachi. He led us to the entrance of the cave where Tobi kept you, but were told to wait outside. Sometime afterwards, we heard your scream and decided to enter the cave anyway. We arrived in time to save you from Tobi's attack. Suigetsu and Jugo managed to hold him off while I got you out of there. Not so long after that we arrived here, and you've been asleep ever since."

Sasuke looked around. They were in what looked like a small cave, though it were smaller than the one Tobi had taken him to.

"For three days to be exact."

Sasuke turned to face Karin again.

"Three days?" As soon he had said it, he felt his stomach growl. He put a hand on it and felt that his belly was covered by fresh bandages. Remembering Tobi's attack, he moved his hand higher up and touched his right shoulder, which he found also covered in bandages.

"Don't worry, we got some food for you outside." Karin said and gave him one of those affectionate, annoying smiles.

"Where's Suigetsu and Jugo? Or did Tobi kill them?"

Hearing himself talk that way about his teammates, he felt cold inside. What was this feeling? He had felt it before, yet he didn't really know what it meant.

_Flashback_

_His body felt like it was going to burn. Behind him, a blonde boy lied, trying to get up after being thrown backwards. In front of him was the monster, the beast, the half-transformed demon known only as Gaara. Half his body had been covered by a layer of sand, which seemed to work as an extension of his actual body. He had proved to be more of an opponent than Sasuke had first thought. There were only one thing to do._

"_Naruto, take Sakura and get out of here! I'll hold him off!"_

_Naruto moved behind him and stared at the cursed seal of heaven that had begun to devour his body._

"_No way, you'll never win!"_

"_Why can't you just do as I say? I once saw my family and even my entire clan get annihilated in front of me, just because I wasn't strong enough. I do never want to see that again, my trusted comrades falling in front of me. Now go!"_

_End of flashback_

"They're alive. Tobi left shortly after we arrived, but he said that you would live to regret your decision."

Sasuke snapped back to reality as he heard Karin's voice. He stared empty at the air in front of him. He would live to regret his decision? What decision? Had Tobi wanted him to act differently? Well, aside from attacking him…

"So where are they?"

For some reason, Karin suddenly seemed to be at unease.

"Well, when you were still asleep, Jugo went on one of his rampages so Suigetsu kind of took him out for some fresh air."

Sasuke felt like someone had slapped him in the face.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

In a moment, Sasuke was on his feet and on the move. Not seeing any shirt, he simply grabbed his garb that hang at a rock close by and turned to Karin.

"I'll be back in a moment."

He began to run towards the exit. He still felt tired, but his major wounds had been decently healed. As long as he didn't engage in combat, he should be fine.

"Wait, Sasuke!" he heard Karin yell after him, but he didn't turn around to look. As he approached the exit, he was at first blended by the sudden light and stopped for some seconds. Karin caught up to him, but remained quiet. Raising his hand to block the sun, Sasuke could see that they stood at the edge of a forest. A small mountain towered above him, in which the cave was present at its root. In front of him, something similar to a temporarily camp was set up. However, he couldn't see any sign of neither Jugo, nor Suigetsu.

"Where did that moron take Jugo? I told him to take him outside the cave, not outside the forest!" Karin said with an angry voice. She took a deep breath as if she was going to continue but Sasuke, who didn't feel like listening to her complains about Suigetsu, took of into the forest before she could keep it up.

After having run for about 5 minutes, he could hear a roar from somewhere in front of him. He identified it as Jugo's voice. A moment later, another voice could be heard, but he couldn't make out what it was saying. Activating his Sharingan, he could see a faint stream of chakra hanging in the air, pointing in a direction a little left from where he stood. While he studied the chakra stream, Karin caught up to him and landed behind him, but she remained quiet.  
Just moments after Karin had stopped to catch her breath, the same roar could be heard and Sasuke took of in the direction he had pointed out.

"Oh c'mon! Why do we have to run all the time?" Karin asked herself but got no answear. Anyhow, she took off after Sasuke.

As the light got brighter, they reached a glade. On their left side was an orange haired boy, above average height. His body had been covered in black and grey strange markings. The expression on his face could best be described as someone who have completely lost it.  
On their right side was a white haired boy, dressed in a purple shirt that had a scabbard to an enormous sword hanging on his back. Suigetsu held the executioners blade in his hands and had the expression of someone that had just gotten an unexpected present.

"That's all you got Jugo-buddy? Man, and here I thought you would be a handful."

"Cruuuush! I will crush all of you!" Jugo roared before he charged forward.

As Suigetu picked up his sword, Sasuke stepped in between them.

"That's enough! Both of you, calm down!" When Jugo looked into Sasuke's eyes, his facial expression changed into that of a person that just had gotten the last of their favorite candy bought right in front of their eyes. He slowed down until he stopped completely, the markings turning burning red and slowly disappearing.

"Aww, I was hoping to have a little more fun. Why do you have to be such a moment killer Sasuke?" Suigetsu's comment made Karin go through the tree tops.

"What was that Suigetsu?! I told you to take him outside the cave so that he wouldn't bring it down on our heads! What could you possibly have misunderstood with that simple order you dimwit?!"

"Geez, I don't take orders from bitches, ya know."

Karin looked like she was about to explode.

"WHAT WAS THAT?!"

"Both of you, shut up!"

Jugo's voice was much softer now that he had been calmed. The two others turned to face him and discovered that Sasuke had fallen to the ground.

"Sasuke?"

The three members of Hebi gathered around their leader. Sasuke took a deep breath and sat up.

"I'm okay, guess I overdid it with my Sharingan."

As Karin looked at his eyes, she saw that they had taken a shape that she had never seen before. They resembled three red eclipses, intersecting each other at a black background.

"Sasuke? What's with those eyes?"

As Sasuke stared down at his reflection in a puddle, he too saw the change in his eyes.

"Mangekyo Sharingan?"

He was stunned. How could he have awoken the Mangekyo? He hadn't killed the person closest to him. Then, a picture of Itachi flickered in front of his eyes. A picture from when they were still kids. The young Itachi smiled a warm smile at him. At that very moment when he remembered his brother as he used to be, he realized that it was Itachi's death that had awoken his Mangekyo Sharingan, which in turn meant that he believed Madara when he said that Itachi had really cared for him.


	3. Formation of Taka

**I'm sooooo sorry to have kept you waiting! I didn't recieve any feedback so I instead focused on another story that had more viewers! However, I haven't put this story aside just yet! This chapter will be really long, don't expect every chapter to be this long. but enjoy it while you're at it and plz review so I know what you think about it!**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the stuff from the original Naruto serie. That stuff belongs to Mr Masashi Kishimoto!

* * *

_Chapter three_

Sasuke took a deep breath. As he was lying in the cave that served as their temporary hideout, he felt his heart race. He tried to calm it but was unable. Tomorrow, he was going to return to the Hidden leaf village, for the first time in two years. It hadn't been an easy decision, but his desire to hear the truth directly from those involved had overpowered his desire to stay away from the village he detested. How was everyone going to react when he suddenly appeared in the village, after having rejected coming home just a few days earlier?  
As he rolled over, he remembered the conversation he had with his team earlier that afternoon:

/Flashback/

"So, now we're free to do as we please? We can just run wild?"

Suigetsu smiled one of those crazy smiles that gave the impression that he had lost it. He seemed excited about the prospect to "run wild". Jugo remained silent, but Karin immediately went through the roof.

"S-Suigetsu you jerk! Are you nuts?! It's now that we really need to think our next move through carefully!"

"Jeez, what's with you? You're the one with the hot temper."

Karin's face turned almost as red as her hair.

"WHAT WAS THAT?!"

"Silence you two! I think we should let Sasuke decide what's best to do." Jugo voice echoed through the cave. He didn't usually raise his voice, but when he did, the other two listened. "Well Sasuke?"

Sasuke sighed and stared into the fire in front of him. He didn't know what was best to do. He wanted to find answears, but where was he gonna look? He could search out Tobi again, but he didn't like the idea of cooperating with Akatsuki. But where could he find answears otherwise? As he closed his eyes, he once again saw the memory of Itachi flashing through his consciousness. Memories from back at their home in the Uchiha district.

"I want to go back to the Hidden Leaf Village." He finally said.

"What?" Hebi said with equally surprised looks on their faces. They looked at each other as if they thought Sasuke had gone nuts. He just nodded as an answer.

"You can't go back there Sasuke. You're listed in their bingo gook!" Karin sounded concerned. Suigetsu however, seemed excited.

"So you want to blow up the leaf because of what it did to your brother? Awesome! What are we waiting for?"

"Suigetsu! Do you even know how to think properly? Or is your head just filled with water?!"

"At least I got a head to think with, unlike someone who just uses theirs to hang their glasses on."

"WHAT DID YOU JUST-?"

"Shut up!"

Sasuke wasn't in the mood to hear them argue over such a simple thing. As they looked at him, he stared back at them with his Sharingan activated which made them immediately calm down. He sighed and took a deep breath before starting to explain himself.

"I'm not going back to go ballistic at them. I'm going back to find the truth."

As Karin took a breath and tried to say something, Suigetsu beat her to it.

"But you already know the truth, don't you? You heard everything from Tobi?"

"Madara is a member of the Akatsuki. I don't trust him! I want to hear the truth directly from those involved!"

As he looked around at his team, his eyes glowed with determination. None of them seemed to really understand what this meant to him, so he continued.

"You are no longer under obligation to follow me if you don't think it's worth it. I hear by officially disbands Team Hebi!"

The flames flickered as he ended his speech. The now formerly Team Hebi looked shocked at their sudden disbandment. After a while of very needed silence, Jugo spoke up.

"I'm not going to leave your side. You're my last memento of Kimmimaro and the only one who can suppress my killing intent when it emerges. I'm going with you!"

"And I happen to have plans to go that same direction so I might as well tag along." Karin said with a blush on her face.

All three now looked at Suigetsu and waited for his answer. The white haired boy just sighed.

"Well, since both of them are tagging along, I might as well do the same. Besides, you'll need someone to get the worst out of Karin." Suigetsu said with an evil smile in Karins direction.

"What did you-!"

"Good, then we'll all stick together for some more time." Jugo said with a smile. It was the first time Sasuke had seen him do that. "If that's ok with you Sasuke?"

For some reason, he felt his heart tremble at this slight sign of friendship. He couldn't help but smile a little when he said:

"Ok, then we will reunite as a team once again. But we have now shed the skin of the snake, we are no longer the Hebi. From this day on, we will soar through the sky, free like hawks. We are the Taka!"

/ End of Flashback/

Soar through the sky, free like hawks? Yeah, that was his intention. But yet, he didn't feel free at all. He was still unsatisfied. Imprisoned in a cage of doubt. Just like he had been caught in a cage of hatred before. Why could this despair never vanish? Was he destined to live a life of constant doubt? As these questions flew around in Sasuke's mind, he finally felt his heart calm down its rate, and in a couple of minutes, he had fallen asleep. He didn't know that Karin was still awake, watching him from her corner. She was seriously worried for his wellbeing. For the first time in her life, she had someone she really wanted to protect. And for the first time since meeting Sasuke, she felt like it was more to him than just good looks.

* * *

As Tobi made his way down to the secret room where he kept the Gedo Statue, he thought of how much his plans had to be rewritten now that Sasuke had abandoned his invitation. First, he couldn't count on the immense power a young, living Uchiha could add to his battle strength. How would he make up for that? Then, who was gonna capture the Eight-Tails? Pain was currently on a mission to capture the Six-Tails, Kisame was nowhere to be found and sending Zetsu wasn't even an option. The Akatsuki had never been this low on man power. He could sure use a new recruit by now. But people that could stand up to Tailed Beasts didn't exactly grow on trees.  
He reached the root of the great lotus flower that held the Gedo Statue that in turn held the chakra of six Tailed Beasts.  
'All that power, and yet I still have problems.' He thought. He looked down at the water he was standing on. Under the surface, a legion of white Zetsu clones were being created this very moment. As his concentration shifted, he noticed that his sandal still was covered with Sasukes blood.

"Foolish boy", he said to himself and bent down to clean the blood of his feet, but then his gaze fell to Hashirama Senjus living clone that was present at the root of the great lotus. An idea began to form in his mind. Though it could not be seen through his mask, his lips were being drawn out into a smile. Maybe this could work out after all.

* * *

Sasuke was up early in the morning. He reached out to grab his rope belt and strapped it around his waist. As he got up and looked around for his shirt, he discovered it wasn't there. With a strange feeling in his gut, he made his way to the exit in search of something to wear on his torso, but made it all the way into the morning light without finding anything. Putting his hand over his eyes to cover the sun, he noticed Karin sitting on a rock a little bit away from the cave entrance.

"Karin?"

She jumped at the mention of her name and looked around to see who had called for her. As her gaze fell to Sasuke, she blushed slightly but Sasuke didn't seem to notice.

"Well, aren't we up early? What are you doing over there?" Sasuke began to make his way over to her. Her eyes widened. His muscles were really impressive. '_Don't faint now Karin!'_ She said to herself. She took a deep breath as Sasuke took place beside her to look at the grey shirt in her lap.

"Well, I was thinking. Since we're going back to the leaf, I thought you might want to wear something that felt a little more… regular for you in that village." She said as she held up the grey shirt to show the Uchiha crest on its back. Hiding her face behind the shirt, she blushed furiously as she asked:  
"Well, what do you think?"

Sasuke took the shirt and looked at it. It reminded him of the Uchiha shirt he used to wear when he was younger. The memories flowed over him as he began to remember what that crest truly had meant for him back then. Holding the new shirt in his hands, it felt like he held a part of his past. He looked up at Karin, who smiled uncertainly.

"Thanks, but how did you know how I used to dress back then?"

Karin blushed slightly at this remark and this time, Sasuke noticed. But as he didn't understand what it meant, he just ignored it and waited for an answer.

"Well, we actually met one time back then." She said while looking away.

"We did?" Sasuke didn't remember any occasion that he could've met Karin before he left the Leaf Village. Karin nodded slightly as she said:

"Yes, in the Forest of Death during the Chunin Exams." She still didn't look him in the eye and that irritated him. But that very moment, when Karin reminded him of something he couldn't remember, he really understood how much his memories from those times had faded since he joined Orochimaru. As he tossed the shirt over his head, he thought: '_maybe I should give the village a chance. I was always convinced I knew everything about it since I had lived there, but I actually know nothing. If I can't even remember the times when I still lived there, how am I supposed to know the village as it is now?'_

"Hey! What are you doing over there?"

Sasuke snapped back to reality and saw that Jugo and Suigetsu was awake mow too. He looked at Karin, who blushed but at the same time sent an angry gaze at Suigetsu, who grinned at them.

"Karin, I need you to point out exact location on a map. And Jugo, you think you can find something to eat?"

"R-right!" Karin said and immediately began to check her belongings for a map. Jugo just nodded and took off into the forest.

When all of them were gathered and Jugo had returned with some fruits, the three boys looked on as Karin explained their current location and their best way of getting to the Hidden Leaf without trouble. To Sasuke, it didn't look like it was going to take more than half a day and knowing that he would be back in his home village when the sun set, he felt unsure. This would be a really important day.

"…so our best chance to get in is to go to the main entrance." Karin ended her speech. Sasuke nodded acceptingly. That made sense. If they went to the main gate and asked for entrance, they would less likely be regarded as enemies.

"Ok, we will finish eating while on the road. Taka, move out!"

At his command, all four members of Taka jumped into a nearby tree and began their journey towards the Leaf Village. As he travelled, thousands of questions flew through Sasukes mind. Would it look the same as it did when he left? Would Kakashi and the other higher-ups forgive him for his actions lately? And most of all: how would Naruto react?

* * *

As they made their way over the tree tops, Karin studied Sasukes back. He hadn't said a word since they left the cave. It was like he was somewhere else. Not that he usually spoke much, but this was different. Usually, he had this cold aura hanging in the air when he was silent. But not now. Now he was just…silent. He was so different now from just some days ago. If Jugo had ran away while on a rampage back then, he wouldn't care and he would definitely not move out to look for him. And more, he would definitely not say "Thanks" after receiving a gift. It was like a new Sasuke had been born when he woke up yesterday, rather than the old Sasuke waking up from a coma.

"Sasuke?"

She moved up beside him to try and speak with him. No answer. He didn't even seem to notice her presence.

"Hello? Earth to Sasuke?" Still no answer.

"Sasuke Uchiha, are you awake?!"

Sasuke snatched as if he had been awakened suddenly from a strange dream. He turned to face Karin.

"What?"

Yeah, what? What had she been wanting to speak to him about? Right now she couldn't remember, but somehow her lips moved on their own.

"Don't you think you have… changed a bit during these days?"

Oh no! what was she saying? No she was in for it! At least she thought. But Sasuke just turned his face forward again.

"Maybe. I don't really know. I don't really know anything anymore." He said.

Wow, was this really Sasuke? Since when did he sound so melodramatic? Could it really be that Sasuke had begun to lose sight of himself? As she looked at him, his face suddenly shifted into a more strained expression.

"Get down!" he said as he grabbed her and lowered down onto a nearby tree.

Out of nowhere, a rain of kunai knifes came rushing towards Taka. As they were about to strike, Jugos curse mark powers activated instinctively and created an axe-like feature on his left arm, which he used to protect himself. Suigetsu was hit but it just went right through him because of his hydrification jutsu. As Karin once again turned her face forward, she could see a new barrage of kunais coming their way.

"Jugo, get over here! Cover Karin!" Sasuke shouted to his teammate. Was he actually trying to protect her?

Jugo didn't give any response, but appeared in front of them a second later. As soon as he arrived, Sasuke took off into the air while forming a series of hand seals. Tiger- Ox- Rabbit- Monkey- Horse- Tiger!

"**Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu**!"

As Sasuke exhaled his breath, a massive amount of fire exited his mouth and blew away the kunai. Karin could sense about twenty similar chakra's in their area. How come she hadn't noticed earlier?

"Sasuke! There are about twenty enemies up ahead!"

Sasuke just nodded as he landed on a branch a bit further than Jugo and Karin. Suigetsu had picked up his executioners blade and taken on an offensive stance on a branch behind the other two.  
'_They are probably just Shadow Clones_.' He thought for himself. Could it be Naruto again?

"Suigetsu, you're coming with me! Jugo, stay with Karin!"

"Right!"

As Suigetsu caught up to him, he activated his Sharingan. For some reason, he felt relieved to be able to fight again. This was something he knew how to do. Ever since he awoke from his battle with Itachi, everything had felt so uncertain.  
'_Brother, watch me!'_ he thought.

"Sasuke! Up ahead!"

Sasuke looked up to see a masked shinobi stand in front of them. He was dressed in a white coat that covered his general clothing and wore a bird-like mask to cover his face. What was the ANBU doing here?

"Don't kill him!"

"How the heck am I supposed to not kill my target with this thing?!" For the first time since Sasuke got to know him, Suigetsu had a point. His executioners blade didn't exactly look like he could just give his opponent a small scratch. It was all of nothing.

"I don't know! Hit him with the flat side or something!"

Suigetsu sighed. Still holding on to that damn moral of his huh? But he did as he was told. As his executioners blade hit its target, the masked ninja popped and disappeared in a veil of smoke. As Suigetsu raised his head after the slash, he saw several other ninjas, dressed the same way as the one he had just the destroyed pop up from different directions. By his count, it was about fifteen of them.

"Suigetsu! Get down!" Sasuke shouted as he began forming new hand seals.

"You don't need to tell me twice!" Suigetsu said as he took footing and jumped behind Sasuke who just was finished waving his seals.

"**Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!**"

This time, the fire he exhaled from his mouth took the form of several smaller fireballs, rushing towards their opponents in a barrage. As the fire rain hit their intended targets, pops of smoke began to cover the area. As the smoke cleared, Sasuke found himself surrounded by four new masked ninja with different masks. These were not Shadow Clones!

"Dammit! Sasuke!" Suigetsu began to move forward the same instant the ANBU members reached out to grab Sasuke.

"**Chidori Stream!"**

Sasuke took a deep breath and ran lightning style chakra through his entire body. As the first of the ANBU reached him, he discharged the load in an explosion of lightning. The shockwave caused the attackers to get blown away. Suigetsu ran up to Sasuke while the ANBU recovered, one of them seemed to have been stunned by the electricity and was unable to move properly, but the remaining three charged directly at the two Taka members. Sasuke drew his Sword of Kusanagi in time to counter the blade that his opponent intended to cut him down with. He forced his opponents blade upwards, leaving his enemy defenseless from attacks below. Taking the opportunity, he kicked the ANBU backwards. Believing he had won, Sasuke turned to help Suigetsu fight of his own two ANBU but as he was about to join the fight, he heard a pop from behind. Looking over his shoulder, he caught a glimpse of a poof of white smoke leaving the area. It was just another Shadow Clone! Looking around, he saw Suigetsu behead one of his own opponents, who popped just like the other one. But then, where were the real ones?  
As a coldness began to rise in Sasuke's chest, he turned and ran in the direction where Jugo and Karin was standing. As he spotted Jugo struggling to keep one masked ninja of off Karin, he noticed something moving behind Karin, who was too busy keeping her eyes at Jugo to notice.

"Karin! Behind you!"

But as he saw the ninja emerge from behind his teammate, Sasuke realized, Karin didn't have the time to dodge the attack, neither did Jugo have the time to protect him. For his inner eye, a memory of a similar situation from his fight with Gaara emerged. With the picture of Sakura being pinned down while Naruto struggled to save her, Sasuke focused more chakra into his eyes. A burning sensation spread from his left eyeball as black flames erupted from it and hit his opponent right where he focused his sight.

"**Amaterasu!"**

* * *

**That's the third chapter for you. As I said earlier, not all chapter will be this long, but I aim to make them longer than in my other fanfic where they are generally five pages in microsoft word. Therefore, there may take longer time to update this but I will try and update more often thatn between passed chapters. Don't forget to Review!**


	4. The birth of Kagaku

__**Authors note: I'm really really really really sorry to have kept you waiting! I guess school took a lot more time than I expected... Anyway, I will try to update as often I can, but I got two other fics also going on so i may take my time... But now, Try and enjoy this as much as you can! and don't forget to review!  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto!**

* * *

_Chapter four_

Karin heard Sasuke's shout and bent down in a protective stance with her hands covering her head. As soon as she did, she felt something rush over her shoulder and felt the heat as Sasuke's jutsu hit its target. A scream could be heard from behind her back. The ANBU obviously didn't like being hit by whatever Sasuke had thrown at him. Looking up, she saw that Sasuke was crouching at a branch with Suigetsu covering his back. The black-haired boy was covering his left eye with his hand, seemingly trying to ease an intense pain in said eyeball. Seeing Sasuke in this state made Karin feel useless. She couldn't do anything to help the one person she really cared about. Struck with guilt for never caring about learning how to actually fight, she made an attempt to get over to Sasuke but was initially stopped by Jugo.

"Don't even think about it. There's nothing you could do. You stay put until we're finished."

How much she hated admitting it, she knew Jugo was right. Karin clenched her fists and bit her lip in frustration as she saw Sasuke struggle to overcome the pain from having used his Mangekyo Sharingan. He looked like he could need a hand.

"Jugo, please go help Sasuke." Karins voice was nothing more than a whisper, but Jugo heard her anyway. The orange-haired boy turned around, half his face covered by his curse marks.

"Sorry, but I can't do that. Sasuke clearly told me to stand guard over you. As long as you won't move from this spot, I won't either."

Jugo looked down at his teammate with a sad look. He felt bad for the girl, but he couldn't abandon his orders from Sasuke. Karin leaned down and entered a "baby-stance", hugging her own legs. Her red eyes held an empty look. She seemed to be thinking. In the background, the sounds of metal clashing could be heard from Sasuke's and Suigetsu's battle with the two remaining ANBU. Jugo sighed at his friend's frustration and turned to keep an eye on the fight. Because whatever he said, if the fight would get out of hand or endanger any of his teammates, he would have to disobey Sasuke's order and come to their rescue. Behind Jugo's back, Karin had gotten an idea. A crazy one maybe, but an idea is an idea. Silently, she stood up and then without warning, she charged passed Jugo and jumped to a branch in Sasuke's direction.

"Karin! Just what do you think you're doing?!"

Jugo's shout could be heard even through the sounds of battle. As Sasuke heard his friend call out to Karin, he turned to see what was going on. As he saw the red-haired girl approach, he felt his heart race. _No! If she came here she would be put in unnecessary danger! _He made an attempt to get over to her but his opponent was quick to catch on and blocked his way. As the ANBU's blade was about to fall, Suigetsu came to his rescue and blocked it. Given an opportunity, Suigetsu's own opponent tried to cut him in half but only managed to get drowned by a wave of water as Suigetsu's Hydrification Jutsu activated again. Seeing his chance, Sasuke formed three new hand seals and thrust his left fist at the now wet ANBU.

"**Chidori!"**

The stunning effect drew extra power from the water and shocked the enemy who fell to the ground below. Sasuke took a deep breath. His chakra was still low since his battle with Itachi. Maybe he should have recovered a little longer before setting out again. Well, there's no turning back now. Turning around, he aimed a kick at his attacker, but missed as the attacker wasn't where he had thought he would be. Sasuke lost balance and fell down to a branch below. As he looked up, he saw that the last ANBU member was heading towards Karin.  
' Dammit!' he thought as he jumped as high as he could and used the trunk to push himself towards Karin and the ANBU.

"**Chidori Sharp Spear!**"

As Sasuke reached out with his hand, a long spear of lightning stretched out of his open palm and went through a branch that was in the way. Sasuke felt himself lose the speed from the jump and hoped that he would get within range for the Sharp Spear to hit its target. Two meters left. One. Aaaaaand… no! As the tip of the spear was a half meter from the back of the attacking ANBU, he felt himself begin to fall backwards. Sasuke felt the panic rise in his chest. He had failed. Karin had stopped and was now crouching with her arms covering her head in an attempt to protect herself, but he knew that it wouldn't do a thing against her attackers sharp kunai.

"Rrrrroooooaaaaarggh!"

Out of nowhere, Jugo came flying and knocked the ANBU into a nearby trunk. Using his curse mark powers, he had grown a jet-like outgrowth on his right arm, which was fueled by chakra. As the ANBU was about to recover, Suigetsu came flying and caught the ANBU against the trunk with his executioners blade's hole, which fit exactly around the ANBU's throat. Sasuke sighed with relief, but soon felt his back crack as he hit one of the branches hanging out from the tree. He lost his breath and felt his consciousness slip away. The last things he remembered was Jugo flying down towards him. Then, he lost consciousness.

* * *

A small branch cracked slightly as Kakashi and half the Sasuke Retrieval Team made their way back to the Hidden leaf. The leader himself was lost in thoughts. Naruto was right. If it hadn't been for his and his ninken's slow reaction to the splitting scent, they would've had Sasuke with them back home now. Or would they? What if Sasuke really wouldn't give up and come home and instead chose to fight them to the death? Or even worse, what if they ended up killing him during the fight? As they approached the Leaf village after one more failed attempt at bringing Sasuke home, Kakashi started to believe that maybe it would be best if they left Sasuke alone until he came back of his own free will. Then again, he may not be coming back at all. So many hard choices…

"Kakashi Sensei!"

At the mention of his name, Kakashi snatched back to reality in time to see a high wood wall quickly enlarge before he hit it. He glided down the walls of the Hidden leaf village with an embarrassed expression on his face.

* * *

Sasuke felt like he had been hit by a train. His head was still ringing but he could make out the noise of a Mystical palm technique, which meant someone tried to heal him. A moment later, he could feel the warmth from a soft hand moving over his forehead, easing the pain slightly. He opened his eyes slightly to be met by Karin's concerned face. When she detected the life signs, she sighed with relief and ended her healing jutsu. Sasuke immediately felt the weight on his head return and groaned slightly.

"Don't worry Sasuke, you're in safe hands." Karin whispered softly.

"I know, but that doesn't make this any more comfortable." Sasuke said as his medic placed her hands on his forehead again and reactivated the Mystical palm technique. As none of them said anything more, Sasuke took the opportunity to look around. They were still in the forest. He was lying on what looked like a natural stone table. The trees around them were smaller than the ones they had been travelling through earlier that day. Sasuke guessed that Karin had gone haywire about the importance of relocating in order to not give the enemy the opportunity to strike again. He didn't see Jugo or Suigetsu, but the latter's Executioners blade was laying on the ground a few feet away so he couldn't be too far away.

"I'm sorry…"

Sasuke felt something wet hit his face and looked up. Karin had tears streaming down her cheeks. She sobbed and bit her lip in a weak attempt to hide it. Sasuke couldn't understand where this came from.

"Sorry for what?"

"If I hadn't been so stupid and thrown myself in harm's way, you wouldn't have gotten these wounds."

Sasuke looked up at his teammate. Why did she care about him so much? He had done nothing to deserve it. He felt bad about her taking the blame, but at the same time he didn't know how he was supposed to act in a situation like this. He was saved when the sound of footsteps signaled that Jugo and Suigetsu were back. Karin dried her tears and turned to greet them.

"He's awake." She said shortly and turned back to face Sasuke.

The sound of something being dumped on the ground could be hear, followed by hurrying footsteps and within seconds, Jugo and Suigetsu had entered Sasuke's vision.

"Are you alright Sasuke?"

Sasuke just nodded in response to Jugo's question. Slowly, he sat up and then realized that something was lying on the ground a few feet away. It was one of the ANBU that had attacked them earlier.

"We caught one of those guys, in case you wanted to interrogate him when you woke up."

"I won't say anything!"

The prisoner had raised his head to look at his wardens. At this, Suigetsu smiled that evil smile he used to smile when he got a really bad idea coming to mind and walked over to the ANBU. When he reached him, he bent down and grabbed the ANBU by the collar.

"Really, let's see if you can keep that promise. Sasuke, get over here and teach this guy to not make promises he cannot keep!"

Sasuke opened his mouth to answer but Karin immediately went through the treetops. As he heard his friend take a breath to snap, he knew the fight was lost.

"Suigetsu! Don't give Sasuke orders! And don't give me that look! You're the one that…"

Karin kept up her critique of Suigetsu, but Sasuke didn't bother listening. He just looked up at Karin as her hair flew around her from the constant movements of her head. Looking at his female teammate, he felt something jump in his chest. What was this feeling?

"…and you look like you've drank five bottles of Kabuto's medicins."

"Karin, quiet down."

Jugo's voice hadn't been raised a bit, but it still went through to her over her own shouts, somehow. Karin sighed and gnashed her teeth, but she didn't anything more. Jugo's sighed and looked over at Suigetsu, who seemed to be pretty pleased with himself. Sasuke sighed and stood up. After bending his joints to see if they were damaged, he went over to the ANBU member and bent down in front of him, to Karin's great dismay.

"Do you know who I am?" Sasuke asked.

The captured hostage glared up at him with a look of pure hate in his eyes.

"You're Sasuke Uchiha, the disgrace of the Hidden leaf."

Sasuke sighed while looking his prisoner in the eye. That look, was that really how he had looked on people since he was six years old?

"Don't make this harder on yourself than it has to be. Now, why did you attack me?"

"Don't think you can intimidate me. I won't give in!"

Sasuke sighed. He turned to Suigetsu and nodded, to which his teammate grabbed the ANBU in his collar and lifted him so that his eyes was at the same height. The other man trembled somewhat when he saw Sasuke's eyes began to spin until they took on the appearance of three black tomoe against a red background. But it did not stop with that, it continued to spin and began to change shape. The tomoe began to grow larger until it almost covered his entire eye and the remaining red formed three intersecting eclipses.

"Wait Sasuke!"

At the sound of Karin's voice, Sasuke's sharingan deactivated again. He turned to face Karin while he wondered why it had deactivated without his conscious decision.

"What?"

"Don't use your Mangekyo Sharingan! I know you can easily break his will with Tsukuyomi, but it's a waste of power!"

Sasuke thought about what she had said and suddenly remembered something that his brother had told him during their final battle. _'There is always a price for power. In exchange for these powerful abilities, your light is devoured.' _Sighing in defeat, Sasuke turned back to face the ANBU member.

"Genjutsu: Sharingan." He whispered as he once again activated his kekkei genkai.

Immediately, the ANBU's body went stiff. His eyes widened and lost their glance as if he had lost consciousness. Sasuke's eyes narrowed. This didn't usually occur when he put someone under genjutsu. Something was wrong. Then he noticed a small black mark on his victims chin. A curse mark?

"So that's how it is…" he said.

Suigetsu leaned forward as he heard Sasuke speak.

"What did you say?"

"Let's get moving. We won't get any information out of this man." Sasuke said and turned his back at his enemy and walked over to Karin and Jugo.

He looked down at Karin, who looked back at him with her ruby-red eyes. She had been worried about him using his Mangekyo Sharingan. Did she know about the drawback?

"S-Sasuke? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Karin's voice snapped Sasuke back to reality. He turned away from his female teammate and grabbed his cloak that was hanging in one of the trees. Before anyone else could say anything, he had headed of into the woods.

* * *

The two tanks filled with water were bubbling peacefully. The lab was lit up by a weak light from a lamp that was standing on the table. The bubbling could be heard throughout the cave room. Along with the lamp, there were also several test tubes filled with different colored liquids. The door slowly opened without even making a noise and a masked man entered and closed it behind him the same something moved in one of the tanks. The one eye that could be seen through the orange mask narrowed at the unexpected movement.

"You're already awake?"

The being in the right tank moved slightly again and raised its head to stare emptily at Tobi with its onyx-black eyes. It didn't say anything, but then again it had only existed for about two days. The bare fact that it was conscious showed that it was developing fast. Tobi smiled at the thought that it had actually worked. He himself was the proof that it was possible to combine someone else's DNA with your own, but to actually create another being using more than one DNA? Now, that's something new. He turned to look at the being in the other tank… but it was gone! Looking around the room in an attempt to locate it, Tobi suddenly felt something sharp being put to his neck.

"Are you the one that created me?" a cold voice said from behind his back.

Tobi's mouth was being stretched out in a grin beneath his mask. His sharingan activated and without warning, he disappeared. The clone took a surprised step backwards, but hit something solid. Turning his head around, the clone stared straight into the eye of the masked man.

"How did you…?"

"Soon enough, you'll be able to get similar abilities if you're lucky. But right now, we need to look after your brother."

The raven-haired clone stared suspiciously on his creator.

"My brother? What do you mean?" his consciousness only stretched back to a few hours before this masked man had entered the room. How could he have a brother he didn't know about? But the masked man simply nodded in the direction of the other tank, that still held another clone.

"That guy over there. Welcome to the Akatsuki, Kagaku Uchiha!"

* * *

**Whoa! What's this? A new Uchiha?! What the hell is going on here? Stay put to find out!  
**


End file.
